Horse and Rider Fall 200′ Down Mountain

A couple riding on the Pacific Crest trail in the Laguna Mountains met with tragedy when the man’s horse slipped in the snow on a particularly narrow section of trail. He jumped from his falling horse, but his girlfriend grabbed the reigns and was dragged over the side of the mountain. The horse and woman tumbled and fell 200′ when they came to rest on a 20 inch wide by 6 foot long ledge. “It was sheer luck or a blessing from God that they landed there,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Carlos Medina told reporters. Below the ledge was a straight drop of nearly 300′.

It took rescuers a couple hours after the boyfriend’s frantic 911 call to hoist the woman to safety. By that time it was too dark and dangerous to attempt to pull the horse to safety, so it was sedated and tethered on the ledge and left for the night. Morning light brought several more hours of rescue work, but in the end the hard decision was made to euthanize the horse in place. A veterinarian repelled to the horse and euthanized it. The horse’s body was left on the ledge.

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